


Falling in love (never tasted like this)

by flamefox428



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Beca can't say no to pretty girls, Beca is a human disaster, But I pretend to love it, F/F, You surprise me with a drink and I hate it, obligatory coffee shop au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-03-02 16:07:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13321740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flamefox428/pseuds/flamefox428
Summary: If Beca was a normal adult human, she would have said something. She should have said something. But she was Beca Mitchell, Human Disaster. All it took was a pretty girl smiling at her and she'd gone limp and accepted defeat.Based off a tumblr prompt: "You say “surprise me” and I mix you my favourite combo but you absolutely hate it and have to pretend to love it and drink the whole thing."





	Falling in love (never tasted like this)

**Author's Note:**

> Shoutout to emilyjunk.tumblr.com for reeling me into this ship, I'm complete bemily trash now and so so happy about it.

Barden Brew was a cozy little coffee shop tucked away at one end of the campus. It was small, and had only a handful of employees. It was known for its great coffee and relaxed atmosphere, since it was never too busy. It was a bonus that her best friend Jesse worked there. On this particular afternoon, Beca breezed into the coffee shop and up to the counter in a rush. She slid her large headphones off her head to hang around her neck as she rooted around her in bag. 

“Hey Becaw,” Jesse greeted.  

“Hey Jesse,” Beca said, finally digging out her credit card and tossing it onto the counter. Her phone buzzed and she pulled it out, tapping away a response. “Christ, Amy lost her key again, I’ll have to deal with that later. I’ll have my usual.” 

“Um,” a voice responded. A very female voice that was not Jesse. Beca looked up and was greeted with the sight of an extremely adorable and very tall brunette looking shyly at her. 

“Oh. Fresh meat?” Beca asked, turning to Jesse who was standing next to the girl. _Emily_ , her name tag read with a smiley face. _Fuck, she was really cute_. 

“Yup! This is Emily, and be nice, because this is her first day on the job and my boss will kill me if she quits,” Jesse warned. Emily giggled and fixed Beca with a sunshine smile. 

“Chloe thinks I’m nice,” Beca said defensively.

“Yeah,” Jesse laughed. “And Chloe thinks pouring rain is nice too.” 

“Um, so what can I get for you?” Emily said, interrupting before she and Jesse could keep arguing. 

“I can teach you Beca’s usual order,” Jesses said, turning to the coffee machine. “She’s very picky.” 

“I’m not picky,” Beca said, trying to sound casual and halting their progress. She regarded Emily with an easy smile and propped her chin up in her hand. “Surprise me.” 

“Okay! I’ll make you my favourite drink!” Emily squeaked, turning to get to work while Jesse chuckled and leaned on the counter to talk to Beca.

“Seems like you’ve made quite an impression on the new girl,” Jesse said with a cheeky grin. He watched the way Beca’s eyes followed Emily’s movements before his eyes lit up. “You _like_ her!” 

“Wow Jesse, could you maybe yell that a little louder next time?” Beca growled, slugging him in the shoulder. Jesse laughed and rubbed the sore spot while looking at Beca fondly. 

“You know she goes to Barden as well,” Jesse said. “She’s a freshman.” 

Before Beca could reply, Emily placed a steaming paper cup down on the counter in front of her, smiling proudly. 

“It’s a salted caramel raspberry latte,” Emily said happily, nudging it towards Beca. Beca smiled at the girl’s eagerness, scooping up the cup to take a sip. 

She nearly choked on it. 

It was sweet. So, so sweet. Beca had never had salted caramel anything but she was now discovering that she absolutely hated it. With the added raspberry, it was the strangest combination of flavours she’d ever had. Emily was smiling expectantly at her, watching for her reaction. Jesse, who could read Beca like an open book, was watching eagerly to see how she would play this. Beca swallowed thickly and smiled at Emily, her fingers rubbing at the sides of the cup in nervous agitation. 

“Well?” Emily said, practically bouncing up and down at the counter. _Fuck,_ Beca thought as she smiled again, brighter this time. 

“It’s delicious, I love it,” Beca lied, talking another big gulp of it and biting her tongue as she swallowed it. Emily positively beamed at her, while Jesse desperately bit the inside of his cheek behind her, trying not to burst out laughing.

“That’s great! I’m glad you like it,” Emily smiled. “When Jesse said you were picky I was worried you would hate it.” 

“No, it’s great,” Beca insisted, trying not to let her gagging show. “Might even be my new favourite drink.” 

_Fuck, why did you say that?!,_ Beca thought in a panic. Emily was beaming at her again with her sunshine smile. _Right, that_ _’s why_ _you said it._

“Anyway, I’d love to stay and chat but I have to get to class,” Beca said, turning to leave. Emily and Jesse bid their farewells and Beca headed to her only class of the day. She made it all the way across campus before she dropped the half empty cup into the nearest trash can.

* * *

A few days passed where Beca didn’t go to the coffee shop. She had early morning discussion groups that week to accommodate some shifting scheduling issues. The next time she walked into Barden Brew, she was greeted by an enthusiastic Emily wiping down the counter. 

“Beca! Hi!” She said with her signature goofy grin. 

“Hey Emily, how have you been?” Beca asked. She dug through her purse to pull out her credit card while Emily grabbed a cup. 

“Great! What’ll it be today?” She replied. “The Beca classic? The Emily Special? Something else entirely?” 

“The Emily Special? Is that what you’re calling it?” Beca asked with a chuckle. 

“Yeah, I mean it needs a name that isn’t super long to say,” she said as if it were obvious. “Since you liked it so much do you want another one?” 

Emily looked really pretty today, even in the stupid green apron. She was wearing a pretty black blouse and her hair was curled in soft waves down her shoulders. She was honestly one of the prettiest girls Beca had ever seen. Beca must’ve zoned out, because Emily was waving a hand in her face with a goofy smile. 

“What?” Beca said blankly, shaking herself out of her daze. 

“Yes? No?” Emily teased. 

“Yes?” Beca asked, unsure of what she was agreeing to. Emily beamed again, so Beca was sure it couldn’t be all bad. 

Until Emily placed another one of those god-awful lattes in front of her. Beca could already smell the raspberry wafting through the air. She sighed regretfully and took the cup, handing Emily the cash. She cast a forlorn look at the cup one last time before steeling herself and taking a sip. It was just as a bad as last time, and she tried not to cough while swallowing it. 

“Mm, so good,” she said. “Love it.” 

“Great!” Emily said. “Well, have a good class, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?” 

“Yep,” Beca promised. “Tomorrow.” 

She was out the door and walking the same path as last time, waiting until she was well out of range of the shop to ditch the coffee cup in the nearest trash.

* * *

 Two weeks had passed, and Beca wasn’t sure how she was surviving. It was in her routine to stop by Barden Brew every morning for coffee, and now that she knew Emily worked there she had a little extra incentive to stop by. Unfortunately, Emily had been just as eager to make her the ‘Emily Special’ the second time as she had the first. She had smiled so wide and looked so proud of herself that Beca ordered one before she could think about what she was getting herself into. 

It became a new habit for her to chug a mug of coffee before she left home in the morning. She was making herself coffee, dammit. She didn’t need to go to the coffee shop and pay good money for a drink that tasted like a unicorn threw up in her drink. And yet she did, every single morning. All because of a pretty girl. _You_ _’re goddamn hopeless, Mitchell._

Today she and Chloe had to go into town together to pick up prescriptions for Chloe’s dog. Chloe had the brilliant idea of stopping by Barden Brew on their way off campus, and Beca sighed, already resigning herself to her fate. They stepped into the cheery little shop and were greeted by Jesse at the counter. Beca frowned slightly, disappointed that it wasn’t Emily’s usual sunshine smile greeting her. 

“Hey Jesse!” Chloe said brightly. “I’ll have a caramel frappuccino please.”  

“Coming right up,” Jesse said, turning to make the drink. “And what about you Beca? The Emily Special?” 

“The what?” Chloe asked as Beca groaned loud and high pitched. 

“Emily is our new barista and Beca is in love with her,” Jesse responded, handing Chloe the finished drink. 

“Jesse,” Beca hissed. “You better thank god you’re behind that counter so I can’t kick your ass.” 

“Don’t worry, she’s not here today,” Jesse said, waving her off. “Anyway, Beca tried to be all cool and told Emily to surprise her the first time she made her a drink and Emily made Beca her favourite latte. Salted caramel with raspberry.” 

“But you hate salted caramel,” Chloe said, scrunching up her nose in confusion. 

“I know that _now_ ,” Beca whined. “But at the time I thought I’d give it a try and then she was just so happy and excited when she thought I liked it that I’ve been drinking them for the past three weeks.” 

“Oof,” Chloe sighed. “Beca that’s bad, even for you.” 

“I know,” Beca bemoaned, pillowing her head on the counter. “Just give me one black coffee.” 

Jesse laughed and poured her the coffee, turning and handing it to her with a lid on it. He patted her on the head sympathetically, shaking his head. 

“You have to just tell her Beca,” Jesse said. “You can’t keep doing this to yourself.” 

“Maybe I’ll learn to love it,” Beca said meekly. 

* * *

 Two more weeks passed, and Beca had not learned to love it. Every time she tasted that devil latte it was just as bad as the first time. Drinking that latte was her daily punch in the face for being such a socially awkward dumbass around cute girls. Like clockwork, she strolled into Barden Brew for her daily dose of punishment. She was already feeling the buzz from her pre-latte cup of coffee and was begging it to carry her through the day. Emily was replacing the jugs at the cream and sugar station and rushed to greet Beca with an excited hug when she saw her. 

“Hey, Beca-bear,” she cooed. Beca bit the inside of her cheek and tried not to blush. Emily had gradually become more affectionate with Beca the more she got to know her. It was times like these when she felt a slight twinge of guilt about lying to the girl. But then when she ordered the cursed drink and Emily smiled so proudly at her, it tamped down all that guilt. 

“Hi, Em,” Beca greeted, moving to follow Emily to the counter. Jesse was on cash at the moment and smiled knowingly when he made eye contact with Beca. 

“If you want Jesse to ring you up I can make your drink,” Emily offered over her shoulder while she threw out the empty cartons of milk and cream. 

“What’ll it be?” Jesse asked. 

“You know what it’s going to be,” Beca said weakly. Jesse looked affectionately exasperated by the whole situation. 

“No,” he said. 

“What?” Beca asked, confused. 

“No, Beca,” Jesse pushed, catching Emily’s attention. “You have to stop, kid; you’ve got a problem.” 

 “What’s wrong? Is Beca okay?” Emily asked in concern, squeezing in next to Jesse to press the back of her hand to Beca’s forehead. “Are you sick?” 

“Yes,” “No,” Jesse and Beca said at the same time. 

“She is sick, she’s lovesick,” Jesse insisted. Beca’s cheeks flamed and she wanted nothing more than to slug Jesse in his stupid smug face. Emily looked adorably flustered at hearing this, her hand awkwardly falling to her side as she blushed. 

“Beca?” Emily asked, trying to catch Beca’s eye. Beca, for her part, was staring at the tip jar as if it were the eighth wonder of the world. 

“Emily,” Jesse started, putting his hands on her shoulders comfortingly. “Beca is a human disaster, and as such she is incapable of functioning like a normal human being. Sorry kid, but she hates the drink. She’s hated it since day one.” 

“What?” Emily asked, confused. 

“It’s garbage,” Beca blurted in a panic before she could stop herself. “It’s not even coffee, dude.”

“Why didn’t you ever say anything?” Emily asked, looking borderline offended. “You’ve been paying for a drink you hate every day for a month.” 

“I know, but you were so sweet and hopeful and you’re so adorable and charming,” Beca ranted. Emily was now back to blushing and smiling shyly at her. “I couldn’t say no, not when you smiled at me like that.” 

“I can’t believe you lied to me for an entire month,” Emily teased. “I mean what kind of person shells out over $50 on something they can’t stand.” 

“Beca Mitchell, Human Disaster,” Jesse supplied helpfully, looking all too amused. 

“How about I make it up to you?” Beca blurted again, articulating with her hands anxiously. _Oh my god, she_ _’s in my head_. 

“How do you plan on doing that?” Emily asked with a charming smile. “Buying me coffee I hate so we’re even?” 

“I was thinking more along the lines of dinner?” Beca said awkwardly, scratching the back of her neck. Jesse looked a mixture of proud and impressed and his encouraging smile settled Beca’s nerves slightly. “Like a date.” 

“I would like that a lot,” Emily said, blushing a pretty pink colour and giggling girlishly. 

“Great! How about I pick you up at seven?” Beca asked. 

“Seven sounds great, as long as you promise to order a meal you’ll actually enjoy,” Emily laughed. 

“It’s a deal.” 

 

**Author's Note:**

> come chill with me on tumblr runningwithpadfoot.tumblr.com


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